Our language rights exist today. This legislation is an attempt to allow Canada to respect its own obligations under international law, under the Constitution. That is not necessarily the same as having a conversation about capacity. The ability to exercise our rights versus the ability for us to fill all positions needed to do that are two completely different concepts.
In the legislative space we're operating in today, we are fighting for the ability to have the space to build capacity. That goes against the last 151 years of a lack of respect for our rights in relation to language. It's no surprise that our language use is declining in an environment where it doesn't have the same level of rights and respect as the two official languages in this country have. This country has been systematically trying to wipe out indigenous languages, and this is still a great opportunity to push back against that. The legislation and the ability for codevelopment was an opportunity we thought we were entering into that would go beyond symbolism and try to figure out how to practically implement our rights. We still have a hope that this innovation can happen, and our submission shows that path forward.